Beacon Cafe
by RavenLikesNeoCats
Summary: At age fifteen, Ruby Rose's father expects her to get a job. Ruby goes to her half sister Yang, the manager of Beacon Cafe. There she meets various characters. Weiss the heiress, Blake the quiet nerd, Pyrrha the athlete, Nora the hyper kid, Ren the passive ninja man, Jaune the failure, and Penny the... iPhone app? Bumblebee, Arkos, Renora. Angst and friendship. RWBY AU.
1. Chapter 1

Ruby Rose resented the fact that she was fifteen years old.  
It wasn't necessarily a bad age, Ruby didn't mind high school or anything. It was just that Ruby's father, Taiyang, expected Ruby to get a job as soon as she was legally allowed to. He had the same rule for her half sister, Yang Xiao Long. Yang had begun working in a café called Beacon Café, and on her nineteenth birthday she had bought it herself. Taiyang was proud of her for managing her own business, and Ruby worried she wouldn't live up to her sister.  
She sighed, lost in thought. How was she supposed to find a job? Not very many places would be overly happy to hire a fifteen year old. How on Earth did Yang manage to do what she did?  
Ruby imagined a younger version of her sister strutting into a café and asking if they were hiring. How did she do it? Was Yang just more of a people person than Ruby?  
 _How can I do what Yang did_ , she thought, _when I can hardly talk to other people?_

A thought hit her hard, as if it was an attention-hungry hammer. _DO WHAT YANG DID_. And the easiest and surest way to do that was to have Yang hire her!  
Ruby whipped out her phone to send a quick text to Yang.  
 **Ruby Rose:** I'm coming over! **  
**Yang also had her own apartment.  
She replied within the minute. **  
Yang Xiao Long:** k. Im at work, b home at 4. Blakes taking my shift. **  
**Ruby grinned. Blake Belladonna was the only employee of Yang's whose name she knew, mainly because Yang never stopped talking about her. Ruby had to stop herself from actually bouncing up and down. _I get to meet Blake_ , she thought excitedly, _and everyone else too!_

Ruby left a quick note for her dad, explaining that she was at Yang's place, and threw some stuff in a bag in case she were to stay overnight. She tossed the backpack over one shoulder and skipped off down the street toward the subway station.  
Ruby would say she spent maybe half of her time at Yang's apartment. She preferred spending time with her half sister than her father, who was too serious and overbearing. Yang, although not even related to Ruby's mother by blood, reminded Ruby very much of her. Yang was silly and funloving, and great at comforting Ruby when she was sad. It was surprising, because of how much time Ruby spent with her sister, that she had never actually seen the Beacon Café.  
The subway ride to Yang's apartment was about three miles, a distance that was very short by subway but that Ruby did not want to walk. The train itself smelled especially awful today, as if it was thinking, _Ruby's enjoying herself too much. I better make things less fun_. Ruby was in a good enough mood that she didn't care.  
The stop closest to Yang's apartment was about three blocks away, which Ruby would have easily trekked if it weren't for the construction work. There _always_ seemed to be some kind of construction project going on, and Ruby often had to take a longer detour. Unfortunately for her, another girl, maybe two years older than her, was also taking that route. This was unfortunate because the backpack filled with Ruby's things made her slightly top-heavy and when she heard the footsteps behind her, she jumped and promptly fell backwards onto the other girl.  
"Ex-cah-use me!" The girl enunciated sharply.  
"Ack! I-I'm really sorry, are you alright?" Ruby worried. Things like this happened often. Ruby could be a bit of a klutz.  
The girl glared, picking herself up and dusting off her rear. "Yes, I am fine, no thanks to you! Do you not know who I am? Never once have I been treated with this amount of disrespect!"  
Ruby was befuddled. Was the other girl a celebrity, or a princess? She looked enough like a princess. She wore a knee length white dress with a blue silk cardigan, and high heels. Her pearl colored hair (How does somebody have white hair at seventeen years old?) was in a high side ponytail and she had a scar across her left eye. And... how did Ruby disrespect her? By knocking her over?  
"I'm really sorry for knocking you down, I wasn't paying attention to my-"  
The princess cut her off. "Uh-buh-buh. I didn't ask to hear your excuses. Do you even know who I am?"  
Ruby shook her head. She hoped she didn't look too terrified, which was how she felt. "I'm sorr-"  
Apparently the girl didn't want to hear Ruby's apologies. "I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the entire Schnee business. Never act in so much disrespect again. I will not forget this."  
And with that, Weiss Schnee, heiress to the entire Schnee business, sashayed away, leaving Ruby even more confused.  
When Ruby, after several more awkward situations (one involving an elderly woman and another an entire school bus full of children), finally reached Yang's apartment, her good mood was gone. In fact, she couldn't remember why working at Yang's café had put her in such a good mood in the first place. By then, it was after four o'clock, and Yang was home.  
"Hey, Rubes! Guess what happened at work today," Yang snickered. At the mention of work, Ruby's mood was back where it belonged.  
"Yang! Guess what! I'm going to-" she broke off. She couldn't exactly say 'I'm going to work at your café'. "Sorry, go on."  
Yang continued her story, which seemed to be about one of her customers and an employee named Jaune. Ruby wasn't really paying attention, but the main idea seemed to be that a customer had a really complicated order and Jaune had to redo it six times before Yang realized what was going on. Ruby giggled politely, feeling as though she was about to burst from excitement.  
"Speaking of your café," Ruby started, a grin spreading on her face, "I'm fifteen."  
Yang looked confused. "Why does that have anything to do with- oh, Taiyang's making you get a job."  
When Yang moved out, she started calling her father by his first name. This caused Taiyang endless annoyance. Ruby still just called him "Dad".  
"So can I?" Ruby begged, trying to give Yang her best puppy eyes.  
Yang sighed. "You're not even going to TRY to get a job anywhere else?"  
She was always trying to get Ruby to break out of her shell, which was absolutely ridiculous.  
"Please, Yang? It has nothing to do with not wanting to try. I just want to spend more time with you!"  
Ruby silently pleaded Yang would fall for it.  
Her sister smiled. _IT'S WORKING,_ Ruby inwardly screamed.  
"I'll hire you for a month, and you can see if you like it, but you're probably getting below minimum wage. Sorry!"  
"EEEE!" Ruby yelped. She threw her arms around her sister. "Thank you!"  
Yang laughed. "Okay, I'll send out a group text. Everybody'll meet you at the café tomorrow. You wanna stay over tonight?"  
Ruby swung her backpack forward. "Already on it!"  
Nobody had ever been so ecstatic about less than minimum wage.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby woke up in the morning with an unexplainable excitement threatening to explode her lungs. She was lying sandwiched in a huge, soft comforter on the couch in Yang's living room. Ruby always loved staying at Yang's. There was something special about it. (It may have just been the all-you-can-eat oreos that Yang kept just for Ruby when she was down.)

Her phone was lying on the ottoman next to her, open. She reached out one arm and pressed a button, viewing her texts to Yang. The events of yesterday rushed back to her, and suddenly all her excitement was understandable. She sat bolt upright and ran a hand through her messy black hair, glancing at the phone to see the time. It was seven in the morning, much too early to wake up by Ruby's standards. She didn't remember if she'd had a dream or not, but that was often why she woke up early by herself.

Ruby dragged herself out of the comforter and flopped onto the floor.

 _This is no way for a working woman to act,_ she scolded herself, and slowly stood up and trudged into the kitchen. She threw open the freezer door and opened a box of toaster waffles and put them in Yang's microwave oven. (Ruby had learned a long time ago that was not a good way to make toaster waffles, but after an incident involving blueberries, Yang had vowed to never own a toaster again.)

While the waffles heated up, Ruby got dressed, putting on a black T-shirt and a red hoodie, and then thought better of it and donned some more professional clothes. By then the waffles were ready, so she drowned them in syrup and actually had to eat them with a spoon when they disintegrated.

When she went to the single bathroom to get ready, she discovered Yang was had already taken up residence there, tying up her mane of shaggy blond hair in a ponytail. Yang scooted over to allow Ruby passage to brush her teeth, and grunted at her through the hair tie in her mouth.

After Ruby had brushed the liquid waffle out of her teeth and Yang had made her hair slightly less like a messed up sheep, Yang gave her the basic instructions.

"Okay, so the others will show you the ropes, but basically today all you need to do as a server is tell whoever's working as the barista what to make, remember who got what, and try not to dump eight lattes on a six year old."

Ruby giggled, remembering the incident from Yang's first week on the job. "How am I supposed to remember all the orders?"

Yang was turned away, probably looking through her drawer for an outfit. "You can write it down, and the job will be split with someone else, but after a while you'll get the hang of it and you'll just remember." She turned around, smiling triumphantly. In her arms she held a folded up piece of red fabric.

Ruby looked at it in pure horror. "That's not.."

Yang had a slightly maniacal smile on her face. "I get to see my baby sister in a uniform!"

"Nooooo!" Ruby shook her head. "Please don't make me wear a uniform..."

Yang snorted. "It's not that bad. The skirt's knee-length, and you can wear leggings."

Yang was right, it wasn't horrible. The skirt was flowy and nice, probably made from cotton. Ruby decided against leggings, because she was already too hot in the sweater that was part of the uniform, but she did wear a pair of shorts under the skirt to avoid any embarrassing incidents.

"Adorable," Yang proclaimed loudly. Ruby sighed and shook her head.

"So, the café's about four blocks away and we should be there in ten minutes. Do you want to get ready more, or can we go already?" Yang wondered impatiently.

Ruby was all for the idea of going.

The walk to the café was uneventful, mainly because Ruby was too excited to say a word. When they actually got there, Ruby was mildly surprised at how pretty it was. The building was brown, the color of English Breakfast tea, with beautiful green vine designs painted all over. In beautiful red script above the glass door was painted 'Beacon Café'. Cute cartoony coffee cups lined the windowsills and velvet drapes were visible from the outside. A pretty red shingled roof would have made it appear like a little house, if it weren't for the huge windows and very obvious café look.

"Wow, Yang, it's actually pretty," was not the right thing to say, no matter how surprised Ruby was. Yang gave her an offended glance that faded into something like guilt. "It was kind of a dump before I hired Weiss." She pulled out a key and stuck it in the door.

"Weiss?" Ruby inquired. The name was hauntingly familiar.

"Yeah, she's... a character," Yang muttered, opening the door. "HEY EVERYONE!" she shouted unexpectedly, making Ruby's ears hurt.

A face popped out from behind the counter. The face belonged to a very familiar girl holding a mug.

She stared at Ruby. Ruby stared back.

"Crap, no," she whispered, right before Weiss Schnee, heiress to the entire Schnee business, set the cup down and placed her hands on her hips.

"Yang Xiao Long, PUH-LEASE tell me this is not the girl you're hiring. You just CAN'T hire this klutz."

"...Ah. You two have met," Yang remarked. "Weiss, this is my little sister Ruby. Ruby, don't worry too much, she's like this to all of the newbies. Except Pyrrha. Nobody messes with Pyrrha."

Ruby was very confused as to who Pyrrha was or why she had any relevance to this conversation, and also felt a deep regret she couldn't quite place that she thought had something to do with her first impression of Weiss Schnee, heiress to the entire Schnee business.

"Okay, speaking of Pyrrha, you should probably meet the other employees. Weiss, you're just going to have to put up with her. She's my baby sister and I'm not firing her. To the back room!" Yang stated with such enthusiasm that it managed to boost Ruby's mood.

There wasn't much to the back room. There were a couple wooden chairs and a futon, a tiny kitchen in the back, and a gray table with a few lawn chairs. A guy with long black hair and a pink streak was sitting at one of the three lawn chairs. Another was occupied by a girl with choppy copper hair who appeared to be excitedly playing cards with the black haired boy. The third chair was filled by a girl with wavy black hair absorbed in a book. A girl with a long red ponytail was leaning against a wall talking to a tall scruffy blond boy, who was fiddling around with his phone. The first to look up at Yang's cheerful call of "Y'ALL, MEET MY LI'L SIS RUBY!" was the girl Ruby dubbed Red Ponytail. (Creative, huh?)

The blond boy she was talking to yelped and dropped the phone, which seemed to make an indignant noise. _What kind of phone gets angry at you for dropping it?_

"Ruby, meet my friends!" Yang gestured to the boy and girl playing cards. "Those two are Ren and Nora, who are opposites. Ren barely ever talks and Nora never stops. She would be proud of your breakfast choice this morning. They deny that they're dating, but we all know it's true."

Nora squeaked defensively, but quickly returned to her conversation with Ren after greeting Ruby excitedly and enquiring as to what her breakfast choice had been. Ruby reluctantly told her about the liquid waffles.

The girl who was reading looked up at Yang as if to scold her. "Yang..." she sighed.

"And that is my Blakey Wakey, who everyone knows is madly in love with me," Yang joked, wrapping her arms around Blake from the back. Blake sighed again, muttering "Get off..." quietly, before she waved to Ruby and said, "Nice to meet you. Sorry you have to deal with her as a sister," and promptly went back to her book.

Yang then introduced Red Ponytail, who turned out to be Pyrrha, and Jaune, the boy she was talking to. Pyrrha stood right up and walked over to Ruby to shake her hand. The redhead stood at maybe 6 feet tall, and Ruby couldn't help feeling a bit intimidated, but out of everyone Pyrrha had been the friendliest, so Ruby tried her best to return the firm handshake. Jaune, however, seemed to miss the introduction completely, until Pyrrha walked back over and waved a hand in front of his face.

Yang snorted. "And that's Jaune, our own personal failure."

Jaune glared at Yang. "I resent that. Nice to meet you, Ruby."

"You already know Weiss," Yang continued, gesturing to the glaring heiress. "And this is Penny."

Ruby worried for a moment that her sister had completely lost her mind. Yang appeared to be gesturing to the empty space between Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Um... who?" was her intelligent response. In answer, Jaune picked up his phone and walked over to them. He held it out. "This is Penny."

Ruby stared at him incredulously. Okay, so JAUNE was the crazy one. "You named your phone?"

Pyrrha chuckled. "It's an acronym. It stands for Personality Enhanced something or other, nobody can remember the entire name."

"Siri ripoff," Blake explained, "but better."

"But Personality Enhanced whatever is like the most BORING name ever, so we call her Penny! She's actually really awesome, you'll like her," Nora chimed in.

"She has a personality," Pyrrha elaborated. That explained the indignant noise when Jaune had dropped it. Her? It? Her.

Ruby just stared at everyone open mouthed.

"Yang, you have the weirdest employees ever," she stated quietly.

Yang nodded. "That's true. Okay, all, we open in 10. The shifts are all messed up, so first three hands in the air get the shift with Ruby!"

Nora's hand shot straight up, and Ren's followed suit, accompanied with Pyrrha's. The latter gave Ruby a smile. "You're probably on server duty for your first day, so I'll be your partner and cover you if you... "

"Fail?" suggested Yang and Weiss at the same time, Yang teasingly and Weiss meanly.

"I... was actually going to say if you need help," Pyrrha finished. "I'll show you what you need to do."

"Yeah," Yang chimed in. "Pyrrha's perfect for your partner on the first day, she's our best server. Actually she's our best in general. Pyrrha's just kind of amazing."

Pyrrha flushed and Weiss coughed loudly.

"You can stick around till noon if you want, but I'll call you if it's your shift. Ren, Nora, you two are behind the counter. Ren, don't let Nora drink the coffee that's meant for the customers. Peace out!"

And with that, Yang saluted and left. Blake followed, giving Ruby a pat on the shoulder. "You'll do fine." Ren and Nora walked out into the café section to get ready.

Weiss sneered as she stalked out the door. Jaune remained sitting.

Pyrrha led Ruby over to the now unoccupied lawn chair. "Seriously, you'll do fine. On my first day I dropped a tiny spoon in someone's drink without realizing it and Nora actually brought it to them."

Ruby was about to reply when Jaune stood up and walked over.

"P, you know that spoon thing was my fault. One of the like three hundred mistakes I make in a single shift."

Pyrrha tried to reassure Jaune that he wasn't that bad, but he adamantly insisted he was.

Ruby felt rather awkward just sitting there, so she mumbled quietly to Jaune, "Aren't you leaving too?"

Everyone was quiet.

"No then?"

"He usually waits for me on my shifts," Pyrrha started, but Jaune cut her off.

"It's okay. She's an employee here now. I... live here."

Ruby tipped her head. "Where?"

Jaune sighed. "There's a small upstairs. I've got a room up there, and I use the kitchen down here and the café bathroom."

Ruby held back an _ew_ at the bathroom part, because that was probably exactly what Jaune _didn't_ want to hear.

Both Ruby and Pyrrha were about to reassure Jaune that that wasn't bad and that everyone went through tough times with money, but a little bell in the café jingled and Pyrrha nodded. "Okay, let's get to work. Jaune, see you after my shift."

The blond boy sighed again and looked down. "Sure thing, P."


	3. Chapter 3

It started simply enough. The copper haired girl, Nora, made a couple of basic coffees that people would order for sure while her counterpart (Ren) watched her more carefully than he needed to. Nora seemed a little insulted by the level of attention he was paying to her to assure she didn't have any coffee herself. Pyrrha had gotten Ruby a little notepad to keep track of orders and was showing her how to use it.

 _Well, I hope this goes well. Couldn't I have gotten some kind of training day or something?_

Ren plugged the Penny-phone into the computer. Penny said something to him in her friendly, not-quite-human voice, and he heaved a long-suffering sigh. _Also it's going to take a while to get used to the talking phone._

The bell on the door ringed as it opened, signaling that someone had arrived. Ruby jumped, taken by surprise, and nearly dropped a mug that she was carrying to Nora. The customer was a taller girl, not quite Pyrrha-tall, but up there, with green hair and startlingly red eyes. She gave Ruby a friendly smile.

"New worker?"

Pyrrha nodded. "This is Yang's sister. She's our new employee. What can I get you today," the redhead continued as she led the mint-haired girl to a table, fluidly, in a way Ruby worried she would never be able to. _Great. MORE expectations._

"An iced cappuccino, please," the customer explained.

Pyrrha nodded. "Anything else?"

"I'll take one of those croissant things. Why not?"

"Great! We'll have that ready for you right away!" Pyrrha took Ruby's arm and led her away from the table. "That's Emerald, one of our most loyal customers. Aside from Velvet and Coco, who I'm sure you'll meet today. They come in every weekday before work."

Ruby nodded, wary of all the new information. Pyrrha explained Emerald's order to Ren, who turned and yelled at Nora, who had begun drinking one of the coffees.

Pyrrha took the drink, which was now prepared, ready to bring it to Emerald, when the door chimed.

"Oh, there's Sun and Neptune. Ruby, do you want to see them to their table?" Pyrrha suggested, her hands full.

Ruby's eyes widened. "Um..."

Nora gave her a pleading look that seemed to say _This is not hard. This is easy. You can't just leave all the work to Pyrrha._

On second thought, Nora's face actually had a normal expression and all of that was in Ruby's own mind.

She strutted over to the two new entries, both guys. One had messy blond hair and the other slicked back awesome blue hair. The blue haired one also wore a pair of completely unnecessary but surprisingly cool looking goggles.

"Hi! Can I get you anything?" she said cheerfully, trying to imitate Pyrrha.

"Yeah, a table would be great," the blond replied.

Ruby blushed. "Of course. Sorry, I'm new." She led them to an empty round table. "Can I get you any drinks?"

"Black coffee for me, and hash browns if you've got 'em. " The blue-haired boy glanced around. "No Weiss today?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nope. Okay, just black coffee and hash browns, anything for you?"

The blond nodded. He opened his mouth and out came a jumble of words and coffee types so quickly that Ruby had no time to write it down.

"Um, hehe, sorry, could you repeat that?" She asked warily. He obliged, and Ruby got it down. She smiled and walked back over to the counter.

Pyrrha tipped her head. "How was your first experience as a server?"

Ruby moaned. "I messed up!" She slumped, banging her head on the counter.

Ren sighed. "Sun's order?"

Ruby assumed that was the blond with the complicated order. "Here you go," she muttered, handing him the notepad. He took it and began preparing the coffees while Nora went into the back room to make the hash browns. "Also I forgot to get them a table."

"It's alright," exclaimed Penny's disembodied voice. Ruby jumped. "First days are difficult, friend Ruby. Your mistakes are nothing compared to the time Blake-"

"NO!" Pyrrha shouted, loudly enough for Emerald, who was sitting closest to the counter, to look up, smiling. "Penny!"

"I'm sorry. I had forgotten that Blake did not want that incident mentioned again." Penny's voice boomed from the phone as Pyrrha rushed to turn the volume down. "That's a long story," the latter sighed a little shakily, "that Blake can tell you if she wants."

Ruby perked up a little at the idea of hearing a funny story, (and the fact that the calm and collected Blake had made a mistake bad enough for that reaction out of Pyrrha) and was ready to get back to work. Some more customers had entered, and Pyrrha was already rushing to get to them, so Ruby took the coffee tray for Sun and Neptune and balanced it on one hand to appear professional.

She got all the way to the table, and then promptly spilled both cups on Sun.

She let out a stream of colorful words, accompanied by Sun's surprised cry, and Emerald once again turned to face them, this time snickering quietly.

Pyrrha gasped.

The entire cafe went silent.

And then that disembodied voice that Ruby was starting to despise boomed, "Well, that _was_ as bad as what Blake did, Friend Ruby!"

Pyrrha rushed over to Ruby and Sun. "I'm very sorry, would you like your drinks on the house or… um… something?"

The silence faded back into friendly chatter, but Ruby was still frozen in shock, her face as red as Pyrrha's hair.

"Nah, it's fine. Mistakes happen," Sun smiled good-naturedly. "You're new?" he asked Ruby's frozen form. She nodded meekly, relieved he wasn't angry.

"She's Yang's little sister," Pyrrha explained.

Sun nodded. "Nice to meetcha, Ruby."

Neptune raised his hand mildly. "Could I have my food on the house?"

Pyrrha gave him a friendly glare and Sun whacked him.

"Hashbrowns!" Nora shouted. Glad for the distraction, Ruby rushed over to get the said hashbrowns. "Hey," the ginger-haired girl grinned at her (a little maniacally). "It's not that bad. Well, it is that bad, but at least it wasn't Cinder. Or Mercury. OR WINTER, that would be terrible. Winter's Weiss's sister, and if you think Weiss is awful, just wait till you meet Winter! Also, It's nowhere near as bad as what Blake did, she-" Nora was cut off as Ren materialized behind her, putting a hand over her mouth. She mumbled something unintelligible.

"You're fine. Sun's a good guy," he stated in his monotone. Ruby nodded.

Nora broke free, cheering, "YEAH! BRING THOSE HASH BROWNS!"

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Chapter Four: Either Tomorrow or Tuesday!**


	4. Chapter 4

The remainder of Ruby's first shift, which was about three and a half more hours, was surprisingly uneventful. Ruby assumed that this was probably because Ruby was too freaked out to do anything wrong. She was beginning to regret getting this job. Pyrrha was doing her very best to assure Ruby that she was fine, as was Penny. Although, Penny's reassurance was unsurprisingly not very reassuring.

Her shift ended at ten o'clock, and Yang, Weiss, and Blake returned to the cafe. Blake switched out with Nora and Weiss took Pyrrha's place.

Jaune popped up behind Ruby and she squeaked in surprise.

"Uh, hey. I'm supposed to take your shift," he grinned awkwardly.

"OH, THANK OUM!" Ruby exclaimed. Emerald turned around to stare for the third time. _WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE ANYWAY,_ Ruby thought angrily at her. Pyrrha took her arm and led her into the back room. Yang looked pleased with herself as she tied her uniform's apron around her waist.

"Hey Rubles! How was…" she trailed off, seeing her sister's expression. And Pyrrha's expression, and Nora's expression. Not Ren's. Ren was still stoic-faced.

"That bad, eh." Yang grinned. "It's okay. You'll get used to it. If you still want to work here."

"OF COURSE I-" Ruby turned around, forgetting she was in the back room, expecting to see Emerald turning to stare at her loud voice. "Of course I want to work here! Just… Would you mind not telling Dad I messed up?"

Yang snorted. "You think I of all people would tell Taiyang? I don't want him mad at you any more than you do!"

Ruby heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Well, where were do you go when it isn't your shift?"

Yang turned away. "Home. Out."

A smile crept onto Ruby's face. Yang was being brief, which could only mean one thing. She was hiding something.

"Oh, my dear sister, are you KEEPING something from me?" Ruby inquired, her smile spreading.

Yang assured her she was not.

Jaune poked his head into the doorway. Pyrrha's head shot up and turned, as if she was sensing that something was about to go wrong.

Jaune tipped his head. "Yang, why do you want to keep it a secret that you were out with Blake-"

Pyrrha had sped over faster than should have been humanly possible. "'s dog, who needs to be taken out regularly for walks and Blake couldn't take it out right then!"

Ruby sensed something amiss, but didn't feel that this was the right moment to pry.

But Ruby was Ruby, so she pried anyway. "Why would you want to hide walking Blake's dog?"

Jaune, before going back out into the cafe, stammered, "M-My point exactly!"

Yang glared at his retreating form, and then Pyrrha, and Ruby. "It's not a big thing. I walked Blake's dog, had a bite to eat, and then came back here. I've gotta go do my shift."

"What was that all about?" Ruby wondered out loud.

"Oh, who knows," Pyrrha enunciated more than she needed to.

"Um, Pyrrha, I just met you and I don't really want to offend you, but you are really, really bad at lying," Ruby informed her. Pyrrha sighed and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a shriek of 'TURN THE VOLUME DOWN!' some poor customer saying 'What's going on?' and that dumb Personality Enhanced iPhone booming, ' **SO, FRIEND YANG! DID YOUR DATE WITH FRIEND BLAKE GO SMOOTHLY?'**

Ruby was sure that if she could see Emerald, she would have turned around.

Pyrrha put her face in her hands.

"So… I take it Blake doesn't have a dog?" Ruby asked quietly.

Later, at 4 PM, Pyrrha, and Ren had gone home. Nora was having some tea in the back kitchen. Ruby was sitting in the back room, having a conversation with Jaune, waiting for Yang. The blond trudged out of the cafe, looking tired. "I swear, one of these days I am going to tear this _stupid_ phone in half," was the first thing she said upon entry.

"I do not think I would be very pleased if you did," Penny replied. Yang growled, mumbling about how she had turned the dumb thing off.

"So, Yang. We need to have a… sisterly chat," Ruby pronounced slowly.

Jaune stood up quickly, knocking over the chair. He threw his hands up in the air, mumbling "I'm out!" before disappearing up the stairs.

"Ssssooo. Yang. Blake doesn't have a dog, does she," Ruby narrowed her eyes, leaning forward.

"No! She doesn't! Why would anyone come to that conclusion! After all, Blake is-" Yang cut off the accursed iPhone before it could continue by sitting on it.

"Ruby…" She sighed.

"Yang." Ruby monotoned in return.

"NORA!" Nora cried from the kitchen.

Ruby and Yang simultaneously pointed at the door. Nora put her hands up and followed their fingers.

"Anyway. So you're dating Blake?" Ruby cut straight to the chase.

"NO! Yes. A little bit. I don't know?" was her half sister's scattered reply.

 _How do you date someone 'a little bit?'_

"But… you two are so different…"

Yang snickered. "Well, look at Ren and Nora!"

Nora's voice came from the doorway. "Uh, we're not, together together."

"Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"Well, I suppose... You two make a cute couple. Your hair is like, like a bumblebee." Ruby mentally decided that 'Your hair is like a bumblebee' was the absolute weirdest reason for two people to be a good couple. "But… uh… I don't think Blake likes me very much."

Yang sighed. "She's just quiet. She'll warm up to you eventually."

"And Weiss?"

Ruby's sister laughed. "No, that one's a lost cause."

 **Thanks for reading! Sorry this one was so short. Chapter 4 comes out some time next week. Also, the latest episode (Battle of Beacon) is destroying my soul and I cannot wait for the next one.**


	5. Chapter 5

Ruby had been working at the Beacon Cafe for nearly a week when Pyrrha got sick. For someone so seemingly strong, she did seem to get sick easily. Yang had come down with a common cold and taken a single day off as to not get any of the customers sick, and somehow Pyrrha had managed to catch the cold and was now confined to her room for a week. Ruby's reaction had been, 'Wow, she gets sick dramatically.'

But this brought Beacon Cafe to a small… problem. Weiss was busy, Nora was on vacation, Yang was taking another sick day, and Blake was taking care of her. So this left a shift to Jaune, Ruby, and Ren.

Ruby was a beginner. Ren didn't specialize in serving. Jaune was… Jaune.

So Yang took it upon herself to call around until there was someone who met the qualifications. Ruby, after sitting in a plastic chair, bored, for an hour, learned that this person was named Cardin Winchester. Her reaction was to shrug and look down. After working for a week, Ruby's excitement had died down and she was absolutely tired of meeting new people. Jaune looked… scared.

But, again, Jaune _was_ Jaune.

Cardin Winchester was a big, burly guy who seemed pretty friendly. He made conversation with Jaune and Ren, and mostly ignored Ruby. She didn't mind much, she was concentrating on not screwing up. She was already much better, and Penny decided that she wasn't as bad as Blake when she first started. (She still wanted to know what Blake had done. She would probably never find out.)

On this specific shift, the much-talked-of Coco and Velvet showed up for the first time. As much as Ruby wanted to meet them, it was not to be, because Cardin got that half of the cafe. As he walked away from the table, Ruby craned her neck to take a look at the customers. In doing so, she tripped and nearly broke her customer Neo's now empty tea cup.

Velvet was a tall girl wearing a heavy coat with long brown hair. Coco had brown hair up in a beret and an orange light scarf. Ruby, after quickly apologizing to Neo, jogged over, to spy learn about the new customers. They seemed to be having an in-depth conversation about teeth. Coco seemed to be impatiently tapping her finger.

Ruby watched them for another minute. Or two. Or five. And then realized that there were three unhappy customers directly behind her who all wanted food.

After only about three days, as promised, Ruby had stopped needing the little notepad as much. She was getting good at memorizing orders, and every time Sun and Neptune came in, all she had to say was 'Sun's order' and whoever was behind the counter knew exactly what she was talking about. She only used it occasionally, when someone new had a complex order. This specific person was a young woman named Cinder, who nearly every other employee (including Penny) had warned her about. All something along the lines of 'Don't make Cinder mad.'

 _Sorry, guys._

After waiting three minutes to get her food because Ruby was spying on Velvet and Coco, Cinder was already ticked off. Then Ruby was unable to remember her order, and when she took out her notepad, realized she didn't have a pen.

Cinder was angry, and that wasn't good. Her amber eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted into a sinister leer.

Ruby panicked. "Uh, uh, I'm sorry, I can get, uh, I'm really really really-"

Cinder silenced her with a glare. "What is your name?" she drawled.

"Um, R-Ruby?"

"Rrrrruby. How long have you been working here?"

"A-about a week?"

"New," she muttered to herself. 'I'll let it go."

Ruby's eyes widened in fear. _They really weren't kidding._

After borrowing a pen from Emerald, who seemed to come every other morning, she left Cinder's table, deciding to pass on the _Don't make Cinder angry_ information to the newest employee, Cardin. He had left Velvet and Coco's table, but as Ruby passed, she noticed something. Velvet, the one with the long brown hair, seemed to be crying.

"Uh, not to intrude, but are you alright?" Ruby inquired, stopping next to their booth.

Velvet nodded. Coco snarled. "She's okay now, no thanks to that-"

Velvet had cut her off, reaching over and covering her mouth. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She had a faint British accent that seemed warm and oddly soothing.

Ruby nodded, walking back to the counter to turn in Cinder's order. _I wonder what's bothering her._

"Hey, Jaune," she handed the paper to him. "Cinder's order. You were right about her."

The blond raised his eyebrows. "Made her mad?"

Ruby grimaced. "She's really scary, actually."

Jaune nodded knowingly. His gaze wandered the room and landed on Velvet. "Hey, what's with her?"

"She seemed upset. I think Coco was about to say someone's name before Velvet cut her off."

Jaune blinked and his eyes seemed to widen in realization. "Uh, were you serving those two?"

"No, Cardin."

Jaune nodded and went to the coffee machine to prepare Cinder's order without another word.

 _Huh._

Two hours later, the last shift was over. Cardin said his goodbyes and left, while Ren, Ruby, and Jaune regrouped in the back room to discuss their shifts. Ruby repeated her story of Cinder and the odd thing that happened with Velvet, but Ren looked just as baffled.

"That is odd. Perhaps Coco could-"

" **Incoming video call from your hyper friend!"** Penny shouted loudly. Shouted? Shouted. Just because she was a phone didn't mean she couldn't shout.

"Nora," Ren confirmed, picking up the phone and hitting the green _accept_ button. Nora's face materialized on the screen, slightly blurry.

"Hi Ren! Oh, and hi to you guys too!" she yelled. It was altogether possible the concept of phones was not a thing Nora completely understood, because she was yelling as if Ren were on another planet.

Ruby and Jaune voiced their helloes, and decided to continue their meeting with Nora. After Ruby explained the Velvet situation, the copper haired girl waved a hand rapidly through the air as if she were in class.

"Yes, Nora?" Ren sighed.

"Maybe she was sad because I wasn't there! Or, maybe because Cardin was serving her and she wanted Ruby or something? Or, I got it, maybe she didn't get a food she wanted! OR she wants to ask Coco out but can't get up the courage! ORRR," Nora stopped, noticing that everyone was staring at her. "What?"

"You might be onto something," Ruby said, at the same time as Ren sighed, "None of those make any sense."

"I like Ruby better than you," Nora whined, sticking her tongue out at the black haired boy. "Anyway, what did you mean by that?"

"I meeean… Coco was about to say a name, and Velvet looked fine when she walked in, and Jaune always acts weird around Ca-"

"I do not act _weird,"_ the blond defended. He and Nora got into a small do-too-do-not argument while Ren and Ruby exchanged a look. Jaune turned to face them.

"FINE! It's true. Cardin's a jerk, okay? Don't tell Yang."

Nora's mouth dropped open in anger and Ruby shouted, "We HAVE to tell Yang!"

Jaune shook his head pathetically. "No, no, nonono. I don't… Cardin knows that I live at the cafe. And if I tell Yang, he's gonna tell my parents."

This time REN's jaw dropped in anger. Ruby had actually never seen the quiet dude show any emotions before.

"We need to fix this somehow! If he's literally making our customers CRY, we have to fire him!" Ruby was in full on rage mode at this point.

"But-"

"Jaune!" Ruby cut him off. "I'm sorry, but this isn't just about you! He made Velvet cry, and-"

"We don't know that for a fact, but-" Ren tried to say, as Nora also made another unintelligible comment.

Ruby slammed her hands down on the table. "We need a solution!"

Everything went silent.

More silence.

Then Nora: "We could break his legs!"

Then more silence.

"No." (Ren.)

"I wish Pyrrha were here," sighed Jaune.

 **Hey, all. I am SOOOO sorry that I completely lied two weeks ago when I said I would update next week. Been super busy! THANK YOU for the favorites and follows and for putting up with my flaky self. I can't really tell you when the next chapter will come out, but if I put it off too long the guilt will seriously come back to haunt me. Anyway, next up- Pyrrha recovers and Nora accidentally finds a solution! (Well, it was PROBABLY an accident…)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! Okay, wow, super sorry. I haven't updated in so long! Anyway, preview: Cardin just won't leave, Nora doesn't know her own strength, and… is Blake hiding something? (Look ahead for MAYBE Whiterose. I haven't yet decided if this is even gonna have Whiterose.)**

It seemed like Cardin was thinking about taking on the job full time, and Nora had something to say about that. That something was not child appropriate, and Penny, wise iPhone she was, was right to bleep her out.

By this time Pyrrha had recovered and was back in the cafe and Cardin was no longer needed, but he seemed to not want to leave. Yang, having not been alerted to Cardin's behavior, was actually considering hiring him full time. Ruby attempted to remind her sister that the cafe already had more employees than it needed, but her attempts were futile. Yang assured her that Cardin would be useful as a part time employee, and if another situation like the one where everyone was sick or busy happened again, he would be there.

Ruby honestly couldn't bring herself to tell Yang and get Jaune in trouble with his parents. Pyrrha had been informed as well, and she had been so angry Ren actually had to hold her down. Since that moment, she had set herself up so she shared every shift that Jaune had with Cardin.

Nora was still going on about breaking his legs and Weiss and Blake were trying to convince Jaune to tell Yang when Ruby walked in on Tuesday. She had purposefully arrived earlier than her sister to warn her coworkers (who, other than Weiss, she was beginning to think of as friends) to cease the talk about Cardin before Yang and he himself showed up.

Jaune looked absolutely mortified by this whole thing, and Pyrrha had scooted up so close to him that she was practically sitting on him, saying probably-comforting words that really weren't helping.

Cardin showed up before Yang, and everyone sat in one of the most awkward silences since the beginning of time until Yang finally showed, smiling brilliantly as always.

"SO!" the blonde began, then paused and scrunched her eyebrows, observing the atmosphere. "Okay, who died?"

Nora giggled and Jaune sighed, but otherwise nobody responded until Ruby stood up and walked over to her sister.

"So, anyway, who has the first shift today?"

Yang blinked. "Oh, Oum, _who died_?"

"Nobody," Ruby assured her sister. "It's quiet today is all."

Yang did not look thoroughly convinced, but she pulled out her notepad.

"Looks like Weiss and Ruby are behind the counter and Nora and Cardin are serving. Ruby, are you good with that?"

Ruby nodded eagerly, although a little disappointed to have to work with Weiss. At least she could watch Cardin.

"Well? Let's get ready! We only _have_ ten minutes!" Weiss gave her an _I swear, if you mess up_ glare that made Ruby remember that yes, she actually needed to make coffee for people, and she should probably get on that. She and her white haired tormentor moved out into the cafe section and Weiss sat at the counter, a hand on her forehead.

"Do you even know how to make any of these?" she sighed, exasperation clear in her voice.

Ruby tapped her finger. "Umm, not really, but it can't be that hard, Pyrrha showed me a couple on the afternoon shift last week when nobody was-"

Weiss cut her off, spinning around on the stool. She held out a piece of off-white paper. "Here. Here are instructions and everything you need. _Don't_ mess me up." The heiress turned on her heel and flounced back behind the counter. Ruby trudged after her, just a little sulkily, her eyes skimming the front page of the little manual Weiss had handed her. None of the drinks looked terribly hard, but she hadn't really worked with machines like the ones in the cafe.

Weiss showed her the basics while making herself a latte, and then proceeded to just leave it sitting there on the counter as she made the commonly ordered drinks. Ruby followed her motions, eyes glued to the packet.

A seemingly short time later, Nora bounced up to the counter. "One iced mocha, whipped cream, decaf, a croissant, and one iced tea!"

Weiss blinked. "Is Emerald here with someone?"

Nora nodded, glanced around, and in a hushed voice, replied, " _It's Cinder!_ "

Ruby squeaked loudly and Weiss glared at her. The former pursed her lips and hurriedly grabbed a croissant and prepared the iced tea while Weiss took care of the other order. The pearl-haired heiress gracefully handed the tray over to Nora, who skipped off with it. Cardin came by with another order and it took all of Ruby's energy (and from the looks of it, Weiss's too) to not glare at him.

As soon as he was gone the two girls both sighed and Ruby giggled out loud. Weiss gave her an odd look that wasn't actually a glare, surprisingly.

" **Weiss!** " Penny called in her unsettlingly inhuman yet sweet voice. " **Yang would like to see you. I will help friend Ruby with the orders!** " the iPhone finished cheerily. Weiss disappeared into the back room.

For the next thirty minutes, time seemed to pass quickly. Penny (volume turned down, thank goodness) helped Ruby out as she made the orders, and her thoughts about Blake and Yang's new (adorable) relationship distracted her from glaring at Cardin. It was only when Velvet and a huge guy dressed in green walked in that she remembered the whole thing. That was also when she realized Weiss still hadn't returned.

 _Nora can totally beat up Cardin if he makes Velvet cry again._

 _So can the green guy, probably._

An angry shriek echoed from the back room.

 _Okay, Mr. Green Guy can take Cardin, and maybe I can ask Nora to take the counter a minute. I have to see what's going on back there._

Nora happily agreed after slurping down Weiss's latte, and Ruby hurried to the back room. Weiss was yelling at Blake.

"Um, what's going on?" Ruby inquired, her question directed at Jaune and Yang. Yang sighed.

"Well, apparently Starbucks got mad at us for using one of their names, so Weiss started yelling at this guy over the phone," Ruby's sister explained.

Jaune continued, "And Blake suggested we just rename it, and Weiss yelled at her about being a Starbucks sympathizer, and now they're arguing about whether Starbucks is evil or not."

Ruby was shocked at what an incredibly stupid reason to have an argument this was.

"Guys, we have enough to worry about with Cardin and all. We don't need this," she pleaded the two girls, whose voices were raised high enough for anyone in the cafe to hear.

Jaune gasped and Ruby realized her mistake. Unfortunately, Yang did too.

"What do you mean, 'with Cardin and all?' What's wrong with Cardin?"

All four other workers jumped in with completely different explanations, but were all once again interrupted by an ear shattering screech, a crash, someone yelling, "NORA!" and someone crying in pain.

"Oh, Oum," Blake muttered. Yang swore and hissed something like "Where's Ren when you need him," and all five of them rushed out into the cafe.

Several customers were standing up, their chairs knocked over, as they backed away. Cinder had coffee down her dress and didn't look happy. (Emerald looked terrified.) Velvet and the green guy were observing the seen, and Ruby noted that Velvet looked a little pleased.

And in the middle of it all was Nora, standing five feet from the wreckage of a table, drenched in coffee, and Cardin, who was clutching his leg and yelling in pain.

Yang swore again, loudly, and Penny, hearing the commotion, dialed the emergency hotline. Weiss rushed to the phone and explained the situation.

Nobody but Ruby noticed Blake quietly slip out the door.

They were closed for the afternoon shift that day, but all nine employees (the ninth being Penny, not Cardin) were gathered in the back room, listening to Nora's story of what happened. She explained that because there was only one server at that point, she had gone to help out. Carrying several drinks at once and a plate full of pancakes, she had attempted to gently kick a table out of her way. Nora, as it turned out, did not know her own strength, and the table had been knocked sideways and hit Cardin.

By this time, Yang had heard from Ruby, Jaune, and Weiss about Cardin. She seemed less than shocked at the news, explaining that Cardin had been a school bully and Yang had hoped he would turn over a new leaf.

Nora didn't seem very affected when she told Ren that she _had_ broken Cardin's legs after all.

 **Hi all! WE'LL BREAK HIS LEGS! (I love my Nora!) Anyway, I finally decided on my ships.**

 **There will be Bumblebee, Whiterose, Arkos, Renora, Emberald, Crosshares, and Seamonkeys among others. Preview: Blake is missing and Weiss is angry, Bumblebees and Arkos might just happen.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Preview: It wasn't a big deal that Blake hadn't been showing up until she missed a shift and Yang had to come in to cover for her. (Weiss is upset. Ruby is worried. Nora is loud.)**

Yang hadn't been herself when she came home from work, which had Ruby worried.

The younger sister had stopped hanging out at the cafe during shifts because it was first of all a huge waste of her summer break, and second of all becoming annoying. Weiss wouldn't stop talking about Blake. At this point everyone had had enough of her ranting, and even sweet and collected Pyrrha had shouted "It was just a phone call, okay?" loudly enough for everyone to stare.

Blake hadn't been coming to the cafe, which was understandable during other people's shifts, but she hadn't even been showing up in the mornings when everyone gathered in the back room.

Yang was in a bad mood, and Ruby could tell by the way she did everything. Usually Yang was a tornado of happiness and upbeat rock music, barrelling around the apartment whenever Ruby was there. When she came home this time, she didn't say a word to Ruby before disappearing into the bathroom for a twenty minute shower.

 _Okay, so Yang's in a bad mood._

Ruby _really_ knew something was wrong when Yang didn't dry her hair before she went to bed. Yang was very protective of her hair, so much so that even if Ruby accidentally touched her mane of gold by mistake, her older sister would whirl around and hiss at her.

She was _not_ one to sleep on wet hair, the consequences of bunches and wrinkles were too painful for her.

And Ruby, at that moment, knew that something was wrong.

She couldn't fall asleep, worried for her sister. She also had six voicemails from her father that she listened to, and was horrified to realize she hadn't been back to his house for a week. She left him a text explaining that things were busy at the cafe and that she's probably be home this weekend before flipping open an old book and reading until she drifted off.

She couldn't help but feel that that was something Blake would do.

The next day, Ruby not only learned how bad the problem actually was, but was forced to endure WEISS learning how bad the problem actually was.

"She _said_ she'd come! She _PROMISED!_ What a child! What an _idiot!_ How _incredibly irresponsible!_ To just NOT show up for a shift! How CHILDISH!" The heiress went on and on. Ruby and Yang shared an exasperated glance, and Ren, the fourth person on the shift, excused himself to start up the drinks.

"Weiss, it's okay, I don't mind taking an extra shift," Yang sighed, trying to calm down the fuming ivory-haired drama queen.

Weiss did not want to be calmed down. "We've had to sub for her for nearly a week now, and now she doesn't even come to shift she promised she would?" She shot Ruby a pleading glance, like _take my side please take my side._

Ruby took her opportunity to leave, knocking over her plastic deck chair as she followed Ren into the cafe to escape Weiss's wrath. The two quietly prepared drinks for a couple minutes (Ruby not wanting to start a conversation and Ren not caring) before Weiss stormed angrily out of the back room, Yang following in defeat.

The shift went by quickly, mainly dominated by silence. Yang and Ruby weren't in the mood for conversation, Weiss wasn't stupid enough to speak to customers while she was this angry, and Ren… never spoke anyway.

Afterwards, they gathered in the back to listen to Weiss rant a little more. Ruby had had enough.

"Listen, Weiss, maybe she has her own side of things and we can go look for her or something and maybe Yang has her number?" The words all came out in a jumble and Ruby cursed her voice for sounding so squeaky.

Weiss sighed. "Alright, but I'm sure you'll see that I've been right this whole time."

Yang flipped open her phone and dialed Blake's number dejectedly. She was taking Blake's disappearance rather hard, which was understandable. If Blake was Ruby's girlfriend she would be down as well.

Everyone listened in a suspenseful silence at the quiet rings coming from Yang's phone. And then…

"Hello?"

"BLAKE!" All occupants of the room except Ren all screamed at the same time.

"I'm not here right now. Please leave a message at the tone and call back."

Yang swore loudly, as did Weiss, earning a gasp from Ruby.  
"End the call!" the black haired girl squeaked.

Yang pressed the pound key, which would delete the message.

"Hey, Blake, we're worried about you. If you show up for afternoon shift I'll buy you something. And convince Weiss to not be angry." Yang's voice was quiet. Ruby debated adding to the message, but decided it would be better if it were just Yang.

"Well, now what?" Weiss asked exasperatedly.

"I guess we just wait and see if she shows. Who's got the afternoon shift?" Ruby tilted her head at her sister in question.

"Pyrrha, Blake, me, and Nora," she replied calmly, but her voice cracked on Blake's name.

Ruby sighed.

Although it wasn't her shift and Weiss was subbing for Blake, Ruby stuck around during the shift. She was curious to see if Blake would show up, and had Yang's phone on hand, anxiously awaiting any texts.

Somebody gave a shriek in the cafe and Ruby sighed for the third time in the hour. She was really starting to sigh a lot.

" _Nora,_ " came Weiss's annoyed chastising, but she stopped, the silence heavy.

Then Yang: "Blake?"

Nora again: "WOW, Blake! You look like a ZOMBIE!"

And Penny: " **Friend Nora is unfortunately correct! You do not appear to be healthy, Blake. Is anything the matter?** "

Ruby's ears perked in curiosity. Blake! That was good! But, Blake as a zombie was less good. She peered around the corner into the cafe. There were a few customers, namely Neptune and Neo, who were minding their own business, and the cafe was thankfully relatively empty. But there was Blake, standing in the doorway. She had dark circles under her eyes, which were giving her face a sunken look, and her hair was scruffy. Her bow was half tied. Yang didn't really seem to care. She enveloped Blake into a hug. The black haired girl's arms remained stiffly at her sides.

"Blake, where've you been? Is that a starbucks cup?" Weiss gestured angrily to the cup sticking out of Blake's bag.

"I just needed my own time, okay? And yes, it's a Starbucks cup." Blake looked at her feet.

"What's that all about? Are you becoming a Starbucks supporter?"

"WEISS!" Yang gently shoved the heiress. "Give her time to breathe. It's just a cup."

"Just a CUP?" Weiss literally seemed to inflate with rage. "Listen, Blake, the Starbucks company is PURE EVIL!"

"They're just a bunch of misguided employees!"  
Ruby glanced nervously at Neo, who had tuned in to the argument and was listening with an amused smile. "Guys, can we not have this argument right now?"

Nobody paid any attention.

"MISGUIDED? They want to wipe small businesses off the face of the planet!"

"They're horrible! They even managed to put my uncle's company out of business, and _he's_ a _Schnee._ Anyone who works there _must_ be evil!"

Blake threw her hands up. "WELL, MAYBE SOME OF US JUST NEEDED THE MONEY!"

There was a long silence as Blake realized what she said. She tried to quietly slip off, but tripped over the welcome rug.

Ruby wasn't worried. So what if Blake had worked at Starbucks? She understood the need for a job too.

What she didn't realize was that a paper had slipped out of Blake's bag. And Weiss had snapped it up before Blake could grab it. As her eyes scanned the sheet her expression, which was already horrified, twisted into one of rage. Blake watched like a car collision she couldn't take her eyes off of.

"All along," Weiss murmured in a frighteningly calm voice. Neo and Neptune had realized what was going on and left before the heiress went into Hulk Smash mode. "All along, we had _one of them_ right under our noses. Hiding in plain sight."

Blake grabbed the paper and looked at the ground. "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer working with Starbucks. I quit last-"

"Oh, my GOSH, WEISS! GUESS WHAT _I_ JUST DID!" Nora's voice echoed through the restaurant. Weiss's concentration was not deterred from her anger at Blake.

"Don't you think we're making a big deal out of this? I mean, as long as she quit-"

Yang was also cut off by Nora.

"WEIISSSS, SERIOUSLY, LOOK AT THIS!"

"Look, Blake, if you can prove that you quit and-"

"WEISS!"

Weiss whirled around. Nora tapped her foot impatiently, wearing a not-quite-innocent expression.

"If you can prove that you aren't with Starbucks, I'm prepared to let this go. Also if you can shut Nora up." Weiss added the last part with a hint of humor, and Ruby smiled, relieved. Maybe Weiss wasn't a psycho. But that was some serious overreacting.

"Okay, if we're all good, then-" Yang glanced at the two cheerily, but was cut off by Weiss.

"Oh, we are so far from 'all good.' I only said I'm prepared to forgive her. This won't be resolved without a long discussion or two."

"WEISS!" Nora slammed her hands down. "TASTE THIS AWESOME DRINK I ACCIDENTALLY MADE!"

Yang sighed. "Is it wrong to hope Nora poisons her?"

 **WOW this was maybe the worst chapter I've ever written I am deeply sorry man this sucked. I thought the whole White Fang/Starbucks thing was gonna be really fun but then I realized there's not much depth to it and I kinda got bored. Well, hope you enjoyed at least a little. Next up: We get to learn why such a rich heiress would stoop as low as to work in a cafe!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, so here we go. I'm writing this one on my iPod, so forgive any grammar mistakes. Stupid tiny keyboard. Preview: Weiss and Ruby have been getting along better, and things are finally going well. And the last person Weiss (and everyone else, based on past experience) wants to see shows up.**

Ruby had been working in the cafe for her entire month. Yang had asked if she wanted to keep at it, and the younger girl didn't even think that was a question.

Yang informed her she would be getting a raise to minimum wage. (Ruby honestly didn't care, she was in another one of her excitement-building-up-I-think-I-am-going-to-explode moods.) She had accepted, for obvious reasons, and things were back to going well in the cafe.

Blake and Yang were both in a fantastic mood. Ruby had a suspicion that their date had gone smoothly.

Happy Blake meant happy Weiss, and happy Weiss meant happy customers. It wasn't Ruby's shift, but Jaune had asked her to help him out with his homework, and she could hear Weiss talking in her "customer voice."

"Hi! What can I get you?! May I recommend our scones? They've been praised by many customers, and I have to say myself, they're fantastic! What do you think, Pyrrha?"

A nervous laugh. Then: "Yes, they're… delicious."

Ruby giggled in sympathy. When Weiss went into this mode, there was no saying no.

The current shift was comprised of Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha, and Ren. Ruby and Jaune were in the back with Yang. The next shift included all three of them as well as Pyrrha again.

"No, really, the scones are simply-" The door creaked open and Weiss cut off with a squeak. "Um, Winter. The scones are Wint-delicious. The sisters, um, scones-"

Silence.

Then Pyrrha's voice again. "I apologize for that. Would you like any drinks?"

 _Who was Winter? Nora had mentioned a Winter once, on the list of people to not make angry. Weiss's sister, right? She was right up there with Cinder. CRAP._

Although Ruby should have learned her lesson about going out into the cafe when it wasn't her shift, she couldn't help it. It was far too intriguing. (Also she had never heard Weiss mess up that badly and wanted to make rude faces at her.)

As she peeked her head around the corner, she witnessed Blake and Pyrrha rushing back behind the counter with Ren, who was wisely hiding. Weiss was facing a taller woman with the same ivory hair and sky blue eyes, one that looked far more intense. Ruby hadn't realized that was possible.

"W-Winter! Hi!" Weiss stammered.

Pyrrha, who had left the counter to save her coworker, put a hand on Weiss's shoulder. "You two go into the back room. I'll take care of this shift."

Ruby had to rush to hide as the two sisters made their way into the back. She grabbed Jaune's arm and pulled the both of them behind a rack of spare uniforms, muffling the blond's shout.

Winter sat down at the table. Weiss glanced around nervously. Her gaze landed on the clothing rack and her eyes met Ruby's, slowly widening.

They seemed to say _please save me._

 _Nah,_ thought Ruby.

Jaune twitched.

"Hello, little sister," Winter monotoned. Weiss flinched and looked at her hands, which were daintily resting on the kiddie table.

Ruby had a sudden sympathy for Weiss, an _Oh Oum what is she going to think about how unprofessional this cafe is_ sympathy flash.

"Hello, Winter," Weiss responded in a voice that wasn't quite hers. "It's wonderful to see you. How have you been?"

The rhythm of her voice reminded Ruby, scarily, of Penny the iPhone app.

Winter scowled. "I am not here to speak with you about my own life. We are here to discuss your father."

Weiss flinched again at the words _your father._ She stared at her hands harder.

"Weiss, look me in the eyes when I speak to you."

The ice princess shot Ruby another quick pleading glance before meeting her sister's glare.

"Yes, Winter. About wh-what are we to be discussing?" Weiss was barely able to hold her gaze and was shaking slightly.

"We're discussing your living situation."

Weiss swore quietly, earning a glare from Winter and a surprised glance shared between Jaune and Ruby.

What _living situation?_ Ruby had always imagined Weiss living in a mansion house with butlers and maids and cooks.

"Your father has discovered-"

This was when Weiss broke in with a surge of anger, slamming her hands down on the table. "If he _must_ be my father, then he's yours as well, and don't act like just because he can't control you anymore doesn't mean he's not your father!"

Winter blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're standing up for yourself. I'd pay you to yell at our father if I didn't know he'd disown us both."

The younger rolled her eyes. "I'd be glad to be disowned at this point."

(This earned YET ANOTHER glare from Winter, although Ruby could tell that she didn't mind as much as she let on.)

"Anyway, we are here to discuss your living with Pyrrha. I understand you don't have enough money to live by yourself, but Father doesn't approve of this. When he cut your budget he expected you to get a job with Schnee incorporated, not a job at a cafe. He told me to relay the message that 'If you don't entertain a job at this facility and you continue to live with Miss Nikos, I'll be forced to shut down your little business.' Those are his own words, and not mine. I rather enjoy the coffee here."

Ruby squeaked quietly, feeling the tears form in her eyes. _This was Yang's business! Weiss's father has NO RIGHT to shut us down just because his daughter works here!_

 _Can he even do that?_

Weiss was having a similar reaction, although hers was not inside her head. Her sister put a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, I've been trying to convince him-"

"TRY HARDER! WHEN HE CUT OFF MY MONEY EXPECTING ME TO GET A JOB I DID WHAT HE ASKED! I CAN'T AFFORD MY OWN APARTMENT, SO I ROOMED WITH MY COWORKER-"

"Weiss, you have to calm down!" Winter's voice was getting closer and closer to the volume of her sister's. "He thinks that you should be working at his company, and-"

"AND HE'S A HOMOPHOBIC (swear word) AND HE THINKS THAT I'M IN LOVE WITH PYRRHA AND I'M NOT! JUST BECAUSE I'M GAY DOESN'T MEAN THAT I LIKE EVERY GIRL OUT THERE! PYRRHA LIKES _JAUNE,_ FOR-"

" _WEISS, THIS ISN'T WHAT THIS IS ABOUT!"_ Winter's voice cut through the room and everything went silent.

In a quieter voice, she added, "Actually, that's exactly what this is about. You know that's why he cut off your allowance?"

Weiss nodded, tears splattering the table.

Ruby had a sudden realization. Weiss had just screamed that Pyrrha liked Jaune.

Jaune was sitting next to her.

And to think she had started this day bouncing around, happy everything was going well in the cafe.

"Weiss, if you convince him that you don't like Pyrrha, then he'll let you do what you want! Just go out with Neptune for a week," Winter suggested calmly.

"He won't be satisfied," Weiss mumbled, her voice shaking. "He wants me to like guys, and that isn't going to happen."

Winter sighed. "I know. But you know him. He thinks that if you don't live with her or work with her, you'll be 'cured.' He's such a-" she cut herself off, not wanting to swear.

Weiss sighed. "I don't even like her."

Winter opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, her eyes meeting Ruby's round ones.

"Who are you?"

 **Yay, cliffhanger! (AND ARKOS) I hate Weiss's dad so much at this point. I HATE it when people assume that just because someone's gay, they like the first person of their gender that they see. What I say to people like that? "Do you fall in love with every person of the opposite gender?" MAN, I need to change the tags on this story. There's a lot more angst here than I thought there would be.**

 **Anyway, yeah. Weiss's father rant over. So, preview: Winter and Ruby meet. Maybe White Rose. Qrow might show up too, because I am a serious SnowBird trash. (Sorry, short chapter, long Author's Note.)**


End file.
